A Northern California judge dropped child pornography charges Thursday against former JonBenet Ramsey murder suspect John Mark Karr, freeing the man who started a media frenzy when he appeared to confess to involvement in the decade-old killing.

The charges were dropped after prosecutors said that they didn’t have enough forensic evidence to take Karr’s case to trial, according to a news release. Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau granted the dismissal and ordered Karr’s immediate release.

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy, who named Karr a suspect two months ago and extradited him from Thailand on suspicion that he murdered the 6-year-old beauty queen, could not be reached for comment.

Karr, 41, was released from Boulder County’s jail and returned to California last month to face the five-year-old pornography case after DNA evidence cleared him of killing Ramsey at her Boulder home in 1996.

The pornography case came apart after investigators lost vital forensic computer evidence seized from Karr in 2001, when he was working as a substitute teacher in schools in Sonoma and Napa counties.

A spokeswoman for Karr’s attorney said a press conference would be scheduled for today and that Karr may be in attendance.

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